Machine Quilting: Feathered Star

Judi sent me this Feathered Star to quilt for her niece (I believe, it's been awhile) for a wedding present. The theme was all about snowflakes so I kept that in mind while designing the quilting.

 The blues used in this quilt were very icy and bright which made it all the better. The way the colors and fabrics were laid out made my job so much easier.

 I'm not sure if you can see in the pebbles there, but I quilted it like a snowglobe (or so I like to think). Every so often in a pebble I quilted some simple snowflakes and it just adds a bit more to an already fun texture. Then I quilted the spikes in the border like icicles. Both of these designs work well in these spaces to fit and fill these non-square shapes but they are very forgiving too - the spiky border for instance are all different sizes and widths in order to round a curve so some pieces have more down-and-backs than others.

 Here you can see more of the snowglobe quilting.

 The center is always fun for me. It's the heart of the personality of a quilt like this and it's naturally where your eye is drawn to so it has to look good. And this is where you can play and try new things.

 Basically I try to keep the quilting plan simple (if you can believe that). With a quilt like this with several shapes and areas to fill, I try to stick to a few basic quilting plans and use them throughout the quilt. Here you can see the "icicles" again in the white, some simple lines in the light blue and some swirls. The straight lines were used in several areas of the quilt and the swirls were used in the dark fabric around the outer edge of the quilt, so this brings it all back around.

 Keeping the pebbles going in a slightly new way, I stacked them to fill the other side of the spiky border.

 I really wish some of these quilts look as good in photos as they did while I was staring at them. I honestly try to take really good photos, but it's just not the same as the quilt in your face. And under your hand. So you can pet it. And squeeze it. And name it George. Hahahaha. Don't mind me.

 Here's some more photos once it was off the frame and the sun was hitting some of the fabrics.

I love this quilt! Any Judy Niemeyer design challenges me in ways some other quilts can't because I rarely encounter a square or a rectangle in her designs. It's all shapes and curves unlike any other. But in this case challenging equals fun.

Thank you, Judi!!! This quilt was fun and amazing and I hope it is being well loved at it's new home!